✨ ✨ coming soon…

Written By Karla Marie

✨ Matariki wānanga: waka whenua– a veSSel of earth & Intention [a guest initiation with Stevei Houkāmau]

As the pre-dawn sky welcomes the rising of the Matariki cluster—a time for remembrance, celebration, and conscious creation—we invite you into the sanctuary for a deeply resonant wānanga in clay. Matariki hunga nui. Matariki of many people.

We are incredibly honored to welcome master artisan Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui) to lead us in this unique guest workshop, Waka Whenua.

The invitation

Waka Whenua refers to a vessel made from earth, created to carry meaning, memory, and intention before eventually returning to Papatūānuku. This workshop offers a gentle, supportive space where you create alongside the earth itself - allowing the material, and the whenua it comes from, to hold and support your process. Working with clay can be a grounding and emotional experience, and Stevei will guide you in coiling, shaping, and strengthening uku to form an ipu grounded in both skill and purpose.

As your making deepens, you are invited into a time of reflection and release while connecting with the guidance and protection of Papatūānuku.

Each participant will leave with their own Waka Whenua, an unfired vessel that may later be used in a personally meaningful way - returned to the earth with intention, used within ritual or ceremony, or kept until a moment of release feels right.

About your guest initiator: Stevei Houkāmau

Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) is a Māori uku (clay) artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Grounded in Ngāti Porou understandings of whakapapa and whenua, her work approaches clay as a living surface. Drawing from the visual language of tā moko and tatau, she incises rhythmic patterns into the clay, embedding identity, lineage, and narrative within the material.

Stevei treats clay as both body and memory - a medium that records touch and holds connections between tāngata (people), tīpuna (ancestors), and whenua (land).

Her work is widely recognized across Aotearoa and internationally, representing Aotearoa at the Festival of Pacific Arts in Guåhan and exhibiting at Munich Jewellery Week. In 2023, she received the prestigious Kīngi Tūheitia Portraiture Award. Her practice moves beyond the vessel into large-scale installations forming spatial environments that viewers move through.

Stevei’s work is held in major public collections, including the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and The Dowse Art Museum. We are privileged to have her expertise in GUIDING the alchemy of clay and fire in our sanctuary.

The Details

  • Who it is for: Grounded in Indigenous knowledge while welcoming all levels of experience. Suitable for confident beginners to advanced makers.

  • What is included: Premium uku, specialized tools, and Stevei’s personal guidance. This workshop focuses on the creation of a powerful unfired vessel for personal ritual, which you will take home on the day.

  • Investment: TICKETS COMING SOON….

Karla Marie